Journey photos & stories.

Selected journey photos and stories from 1989 to 2016.

These selections of photos and stories are from my journeys around Australia and through Asia, Europe and the Americas between 1989 and 2016. They are more randomly arranged to give a sense of contrast to the more ordered displays of my artwork and story pages. I have put them into five main groups.

1. South and Central America, 2. Central Asia, China and Mongolia. 3. Europe and Morocco. 4. Southern, western & south-east Asia. 5. Australia.

Essentially, all these journeys were undertaken as a solo traveller. This enabled me to have a far more direct experience with the places and people I came into contact with. When I use the word “we” in my journal extracts, it is in the context of being on a train, bus or ferry. Not with travelling companions.

All photos prior to, and including those from southern China in 2003-04, were taken using print, slide and even some black & white film. All the photos since early 2004 in these galleries contain digital photos only.

These photos and stories are randomly selected.

South and Central America 2010, 2015 & 2016.

South and Central American journal extracts.

My fifth day of the trek was a climb up through tall lenga forest south then west up a valley to Laguna de los Perros with a glacier coming down the cliffs at its southern end. I stopped to admire this view and do some drawings from the long moraine, then continued on to the Refugio Los Perros and found a nice camp spot under the trees. Torres del Paine NP, southern Chile 2010.

As I walked through the street-market along a trainline, I was surprised to see a train was actually coming down the line towards me. It slowly got closer, with its bright lights getting bigger and its horn louder. The market stalls and people were on the track, but no one moved off until the train was almost upon them. The market stall awnings were pulled back as the train passed through at jogging speed, on its way down Av 6 de Agusto to the station. As soon as it had passed, the stalls were reset on the track within seconds. Oruro, western Bolivia 2016.

I headed off to the south-east up the slopes towards the volcanoes. It was fantastic desert country with tremendous views of the volcanoes and the vast plain of Salar de Atacama. As happened before, I could only go up so far before I was stopped by ravines cutting through the side of the valley. I did two drawings on the way up, then followed a deep ravine back down towards the plain before dropping down into it (where I saw a long-tailed rabbit) and following it until I came out in the open. Salar de Atacama, northern Chile 2016.

After arriving at a small dusty bus station near a market, I walked into the town centre where I found the hostal called the Bearded Monkey. It turned out to be another young backpacker´s favourite with a bar, a lovely, planted courtyard with painted murals, hammocks and free internet. After having a dud dinner of mostly cabbage and beans here, I had a look around the town, main plaza and down by the lake. It was a very pleasant place, if somewhat touristy and a gringo haven. Granada, Nicaragua 2010.

I came out onto a lateral moraine and continued up to a good vantage point above Laguna San Lorenzo, with sweeping views of the valley and Monte San Lorenzo´s peaks, ridges and glaciers. At 3706m, this is one of the highest mountains in the Patagonian Andes. I spent two hours here sketching and taking in this magnificent environment. Monte San Lorenzo, southern Chile 2016.

I didn´t have any cows visiting me in the night and I got a good sleep. I then headed up the scree-slope to the pass, which took less than one hour. I did a few drawings looking back down the valley I had come up and down the side I was going just before the rain set in. There were still large patches of winter snow up here, and I slid down them some of the way into the next valley where I was lucky to spot two rare native deer while having a late morning food break by a stream. They were staring at me as I sat on a rock in the rain and would have watched me coming down the steep rocky slope. They then carried on with their business as though I wasn´t there, with the bigger male deer chasing the female. Cerro Castillo, southern Chile 2010.

As I walked back down the ridge, I noticed the storm clouds were coming in this direction, so after taking some dramatic photos of the light it was creating across the valley, I made a run for it back down to the town and only just managed to find shelter under a shop verandah as large hail stones started pelting down, followed by torrential rain that lasted 30 minutes. It was quite a sight and refreshing to smell the moisture and ozone in the air. It was a classic late afternoon summer storm after a hot, humid day. Uspallata, central Argentina 2016.

I walked down to Carrera 15 through the dark shuttered streets where I found a bakery and bought some pastries for dinner just before it close. It was Saturday night, but everything was shut by 9pm and everyone was making their way home. I had to keep my eyes open walking back, as there were a few dodgy characters about, especially around the plaza near my hotel. Bucaramanga, northern Colombia 2010.

As with Copan in Honduras, I enjoyed the way the rainforest surrounding the ruins threatened to swallow it up at any moment. Looking up to the jungle covered hills, I could imagine temples and towers built on their peaks. They have been reclaimed by the forest, just as our civilization’s cities will be reclaimed by nature in the not-too-distant future. The only difference is, there will be very few beautiful structures left behind by us. Just massive piles of plastic, rubbish and broken reinforced concrete. Palenque, southern Mexico 2010.

While having my dinner as the light was fading, I heard thundering hooves in the forest coming from the direction of the refugio. Then suddenly, a horse galloped towards me from out of the forest, so I stood up and clapped my hands. It was just a few metres away and turned and disappeared back into the forest. Ilsa de Chiloe, southern Chile 2010.

It was a good walk up and around the side of the volcano to the opening, where the lava and other volcanic material flowed out from the crater and down the side of the mountain. Plumes of smoke rose from the crater and steam came out of various places on the volcanic flow as I walked up and across it to a point where vents had opened up to reveal red-hot rocks below which emitted blasts of very hot air. As the sun went down near the end of my time here, the cloud cleared to reveal the majestic cone of Volcun Aguas. Volcun Pacaya, southern Guatemala 2010.

I had an evening walk around the town and foreshore until the last light around 11pm. A large crowd had gathered in the Plaza Major to celebrate a football cup final win by a Santiago team, while a bullet proof police truck and another with a huge water cannon on top waited nearby in case of any trouble. Punta Arenas, southern Chile 2015.

It was another freezing night with not much sleep, as I could hardly keep warm. It was probably the coldest place I have camped and must have been minus 15 degrees or below. I made breakfast in the tent, whacked the snow off everything, packed up and headed off on this beautiful, still, sunny day around the lake and up to the pass on the ridge to the north-west at 2000m. I slogged my way up the steep slope covered in over a metre of fresh snow. I was going in up to my waist and almost fell backwards a few times, as I only had one hand to hang on to rocks and branches with the folder under my other arm. Cerro Cathedral, southern Argentina 2010.

I saw part of the Corpus Christi Fiesta held in the Plaza de Armas with a long procession of saints being carried around it, accompanied by brass bands and costumed dancers. The bearers carrying the saints groaned, staggered and sweated under the huge weight of the statues on their platforms. Younger novices carried lighter platforms between each group of adults. It was a noisy, colourful spectacle which reminded me of one I saw in Cadiz, Spain in 2007. Later that night, three of the bands in the procession played together in a space just up from the plaza with locals dancing and drinking lots of beer. There were no toilets, so people just relieved themselves in the side alleys, creating a small stream of piss running down the cobble-stoned street through the revelers down to the plaza. I carefully avoided putting my feet in this suspicious looking liquid on the way up, only to see a guy in front of me put his foot right in a big puddle of it. Cuzco, southern Peru 2010.

I climbed out onto the open ground where I saw fantastic views of Glacier Manso and Glacier Castano Overo with the summit of Monte Tronodor above. Huge waterfalls poured over the high cliffs from the enormous glaciers down into the deep valleys cut by earlier glaciers. A couple of condors were resting on a rock-face nearby while I did some drawings of this magnificent landscape. Monte Tronodor, southern Argentina 2016.

I was the only non-Mexican on this long-haul night bus which made it an interesting final experience on leaving Mexico and entering the United States. I had this opportunity to see the Mexican experience of travelling to this country through their eyes, and how tens of thousands of people like them made this journey to get to some place of work or study. The life of the economic refugee, which is replicated in Europe and China. There were a lot of older people on this bus who were perhaps going to visit their children here. Mexico-USA border 2010.

I had my dinner in a restaurant attached to the hospedaje with a group of mine workers. It turned out to be a full three-course meal with some wine and coffee. Not great quality but cheap and cheerful. As in Castro, the mine workers kept to themselves, and all looked tired after a long day underground in the nearby silver mine. Salar de Atacama, northern Chile 2010.

I headed north up a dirt road following the Rio Andorra Grande. I passed lots of shack houses and log cabins where I was bailed up by a couple of nasty looking dogs. Luckily, the owner was home, and he called them away. Every shack had two or three big dogs that went nuts when I walked past, but fortunately, they were on leads or behind fences. I kept walking past these shacks and out into a broad marshy valley called Valle Andorra where I did some drawings of the upper part of the valley to the north. Ushuaia, southern Argentina 2010.

I spent the afternoon and evening in the Plaza Major looking at all the Dia dela Muertos displays, with stages and lights being set up and theatre performers and singers rehearsing. I then walked along one of the main pedestrian streets leading off the plaza where many buskers were performing, including people dressed as cartoon characters, superheroes, and one guy all in silver with a big toy camera who took shots of children, then would pull out a cartoon picture of a girl or boy and give it to the child. Very cute. Mexico City, Mexico 2010.

I walked back along the trail above the east side of the island, following a group of young women wearing traditional, many layered and colourful dresses, tops and hats. They also wore fluffy pompoms of various sizes and designs down the side of the skirts to show if they were married or not. It was interesting to see the reactions of a group of young men who passed them, and to see if they noticed which girls were available. Ilsa de Taquile, Lago Titicaca, southern Peru 2010.

It was a pleasant walk, winding down the switchbacks passed small farms down through gullies. About an hour into the walk down, I was confronted by about six farm dogs. I threw a rock at the top dog but missed. This dog then rushed at me, but in the commotion another dog bit that one, causing it to yelp. A 4WD then came from behind me which made the dogs scatter, and I could then continue walking down the road. I was very lucky to get away with it and not get bitten, so I looked around for a stick in case I came across more dogs. Not long after, it came in useful to fend off an overprotective black sheep dog. Lago Qu’lo toa, central Ecuador 2010.

I still had about $50 Aus worth of Peruvian Soles, so I headed straight to the bus station and took the next bus back to Lima with my string-bag full of clothes and drawing folder. On the five hour journey back, I started to recall all the things I had lost, with each one feeling like a stab in the stomach. Ahh, my camera, my USB stick with all my photos of South America so far, my passports, credit cards, medicines and certificate, large and small packs, drawing materials and diary. All gone. I then started to think about how it happened. My room was locked when I went out for breakfast. It hadn´t been broken into, so someone had a key or had fiddled the lock to get in without damaging it or the door. Did the staff take my things or was it a guest staying there? The one who knocked yesterday evening? Ica, central Peru 2010.

Being Sunday, there were lots of people here enjoying the day-off by the sea, with lots of vehicles parked on the beach which I had to dodge around along with a few soccer games. There were some interesting sections of old wooden fishing boats looking like a dead whales washed up on the beach. Manta, western Ecuador 2010.

I checked a couple of hotels but ended up back at the Iberia and got a good room there, if a bit expensive. In the short time I was out looking for a room, I could feel the tension in these dark grubby streets. Not only were there armed police, but also groups of soldiers patrolling the streets with machine guns. There were huge piles of garbage on every street corner with dogs and vagrants rummaging through them for food. There were lots of mean-looking characters sitting or wandering about the streets and plazas. It definitely didn´t feel safe here. In fact, it was the dodgiest place I have ever been in. Tegucigalpa, Honduras 2010.

It was great to see all the installations around the Plaza Major, including a huge tree in blue and brown covered in creatures, totems and religious symbols of pre-Columbian times, including a jaguar. There were a few familiar characters as skeletons, including Frida Kahlo drawing in her wheelchair and Diego Riviera painting a mural. They were all very humorous, including a train full of dead people, skeletons coming out of graves and performers in jazz clubs. There were hundreds of skeletons dressed up as people, from small ones to life-size and bigger. Dia de los Muertos, Mexico City, Mexico 2010.

I did four drawings from different vantage points along the way, including the mirador where I also saw huge chunks of ice fall off the front of the glacier. At another spot while drawing, I saw a condor glide past about 30m below me. Grey Glacier, Torres del Paine NP, southern Chile 2015.

I followed a dirt road by the river and reed beds out to a point where I could see the lake and an island. It was a nice spot with the surrounding forested hills and rain clouds sweeping across. I did one drawing here between rain showers and saw a very long and unstable looking boat go out along the river full of jovial Colombians. I walked back to the town then passed some colourfully painted fisherman´s houses and boats tied up by the banks of the river. Laguna dela Cocha, southern Colombia 2010.

It was a clear sunny morning, which I spent walking down the valley and across a stream to a spot in the fields with a great view back across the valley towards Cerro Punta and the surrounding hills. There were lots of people out in the fields tending their vegetables while I drew the upper valley before the cloud came down. Cerro Punta region, northern Panama 2010.

I noticed things seemed to be gearing up for the Dia delos Muertos festival with music in the plaza, kids dressed up as vampires, pumpkins, skeletons and one clever person dressed as a man carrying a coffin and the lid open to reveal him as the dead man inside. A lot of the shops had large and small skeletons set up by doors, hung from the ceiling and in window displays including one peeping out from a clothing store. One great example was of a skeleton bride and groom set up on a rail in an undercover car park. Others were like grim reapers greeting people in shop doorways. I had seen a bit of this in San Cristobal and Oaxaca, but here it was getting more serious as time got closer to the actual festival. Puebla, central Mexico 2010.

While walking across the ridge to a peak to the west, a group of horsemen came galloping down a dirt road and around both sides of the tower in hot pursuit of three grey horses which were just ahead of them. It was quite amazing to hear and see them thundering down towards me, then veer off towards the steep slopes above the canyon and disappear out of sight. The horsemen tried to follow, with one dismounting before going further, and I didn´t hear or see them again. It was like the steep pursuit scene in the film, Man from Snowy River, and with the dramatic light of the impending storm, I half expected a camera crew and helicopter to appear. Colca Canyon, southern Peru 2016.

I decided to walk the 3km down the road through no-man´s land to the Mexican border, and it turned out to be a very pleasant and interesting walk through cornfields, then great views of the valley and hills into Mexico. It was wonderful to walk across another border rather than take a bus. This was one of the long ones, like China into Mongolia and India into Nepal. There is something about walking across a frontier that is quite special. Into southern Mexico 2010.

It was so peaceful out here in this rocky, barren landscape away from the town, with a plume of smoke coming out of one of the volcanoes to the south-east. The air was so clear and everything so sharp it was hard to imagine these mountains rose up to over 6000m. They obviously looked much closer than they really were. Out towards the middle of the plain to the west, I could make out two dots that were the trees I walked to last time I was here. I decided I would do the same walk this time, as I really enjoyed being out in the wide-open space of the Salar de Atacama. Northern Chile 2016.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the huge 5800m mountain range just east of Santa Marta called Pico Cristabol Colon. However, it was completely covered in cloud the entire time I was here, which was not surprising given its size, height and proximity to the coast and the equator. Being the only place in the world where this occurs, it would have looked incredible to see this huge snow-capped peak so close to the sea. Santa Marta region, northern Colombia 2010.

South and Central American photos (Click arrow below to view all galleries).

Central Asia, China and Mongolia 2001, 2003-04, 2006 & 2014.

Central Asia, Chinese and Mongolian journal extracts.

It turned out to be a great trip through more hilly country, with lovely villages and terraced fields. We came through one village with a lot of local women dressed in brightly coloured traditional costumes that looked remarkably similar to Peruvian dress. Bright green seemed to be the dominant colour, with other colours interwoven. They also wore hats and had braided hair and were obviously a distinct ethnic group of this border region with Vietnam. Towards Funing, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

I stopped to draw again about 9km along the trail and avoided more herds of cows and horses being driven up to the higher pastures for the summer. This included what looked like about 30 wild horses being driven from behind by a young boy on horseback. It was an amazing sight to see them thundering up the trail. Terskey Alatau, eastern Kyrgyzstan 2014.

I joined the flow of pilgrims going around in a clockwise direction, along this circular street which goes around the sacred Jokhang Temple. The street was lined on both sides with stalls selling food, souvenirs, hats, incense sticks and many other religious objects. I got myself a new wide-brimmed hat here on my way around to the front entrance of the temple, where I saw many pilgrims prostrating before going in. Many were wearing special leather aprons and gloves for this purpose, as they had done for many hundreds of kilometres to get here from their homes in far-flung parts of Tibet and beyond. Lhasa, Tibet 2006.

I had a walk along the main street, where there was a sea of bicycles parked outside the stores, and I wondered how people ever found their bikes. I enjoyed watching the crowds and life in this place, along with its tacky, but very interesting third world buildings, including some abandoned half-built ones. Like most Chinese cities, it was changing very fast and would be unrecognisable in twenty years. Shijiazhuang, n-e China 2001.

A huge new open paved square had been built in front of the Potala, and while I was drawing, two scruffy-looking small boys searched the drainage grills for fallen coins. The whole scene seemed to sum-up the situation in Tibet. It showed China now ruled, with their red flag in front of the Potala, a huge square for marching troops and driving tanks along, and these two Tibetan boys reduced to begging and scrounging for a few coins. Lhasa, Tibet 2006.

A few more kilometres up the trail, I came across some river rapids through a steep part of the valley where I had to take shelter from hail stones under a rock overhang as a thunderstorm passed over. A bit further up, I came out onto a beautiful alpine valley with a river meandering through it and conifer forests and snowcapped peaks behind. Although it was getting late in the day, I did some more sketches before heading back. Terskey Alatau, eastern Kyrgyzstan 2014.

There was a river-crossing at the beginning, then a second one about 4km further on, which I crossed on small wooden boats with space for four people. This part of the river was surrounded by huge limestone karsts of all shapes and sizes. The misty conditions gave an extra atmosphere, moving in and out, obscuring the tops, then revealing them. It created an ever changing and dynamic scene, as I walked along the pathways through the cultivated fields by the river, and through small villages of traditional stone and slate houses. Yangshuo, Guangshi, southern China 2003.

I ended up walking about 400m up to the ridge-top, where I came across huge lines of prayer-flags that moved in the wind and made an incredible sound. They were strung out across a small saddle in the ridge and created a tremendous spectacle of colour, sound and movement. Shigatse, southern Tibet 2006.

After hopping off the boat and paying the ferryman 10Y, I walked up to the village of Yuke and through the fields to a new road which I followed for about 10km into what is known as the Tiger Leaping Gorge. On the way, I passed some huge landslip zones, where falling boulders had formed divots in the road surface. It was calm, sunny and still when I started, but the wind picked up by 11am and I was nervously looking up to see if rocks were coming down, but luckily none did. Looking east back towards Yuke, I could see the river cutting deep into the plains, and to the south was the massive form of Jade Dragon Mountain with its jagged peaks. The gorge sliced through two high mountains, creating this deep valley. Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

A short time later, we stopped again, and I could hear the voices of the driver and the policemen outside. We were so quiet you could hear a pin drop inside the back of the truck as we waited. To my great relief, they didn´t check and we were allowed to proceed. We were quite lucky really, as all they had to do was open the back and they would have seen us. Maybe the driver knew the police, or perhaps I was lucky enough to be there when things were more relaxed. Towards Mt Everest, southern Tibet 2006.

As it was coming up to the Chinese New Year, there were lots of small shops selling fireworks, with one I went into having a huge selection of rockets, fizzers and crackers of all sizes. Some were huge, and kids were letting off crackers just outside on the street. I wondered how easy it would be for a cracker to set off a whole shop full of fireworks and burn half the town down. Yashan, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

I had a walk through a gorgeous mud walled village up to the fifth lake with good views of the higher snow-covered peaks and the steep valley with some massive scree-slopes. There were lots of kids in the village wanting photos and not yet jaded by tourism. One group of kids came out and lined up without me telling them and I managed to get a very funny shot of them. Fan Mtns, western Tajikistan 2014.

I walked with the pilgrims along the trail around the huge Shigatse Gompa. Many of them were prostrating as they went around, while others carried small prayer-wheels and chanted while spinning the lines of prayer-wheels that lined the monastery walls all the way around. Shigatse, southern Tibet 2006.

While having a piss outside by a tree at around midnight, I heard a rumbling sound and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shape of a yak stampeding towards me. I had to jump out of the way, wetting myself in the process. Fortunately, it didn´t chase me. Instead, it went up and sniffed around where I had pissed. It could smell my urine, which would have been full of female yak hormones from the milk, cream and yoghurt I had been eating. I assumed by its behavior that it was a male yak protecting its patch and checking if any females were ready to mate. Lake Khovsgol, northern Mongolia 2006.

Again, I witnessed an example of living dangerously, with our driver on a couple of occasions drinking beer from a large plastic bottle in his right hand while chatting with the other passengers, a cigarette in his left hand that was holding the steering wheel, mobile phone going and wedged between his left shoulder and ear, driving at speed up this windy, pot-holed dirt road with overloaded Chinese trucks hurtling down and around corners in the opposite direction. An example of extreme multi-tasking. Towards the Pamir Mtns, eastern Tajikistan 2014.

At around 3pm, we stopped in a dusty shantytown of wooden shacks to have lunch in a cheap diner. It was like a scene from a wild west movie, with a mob of about 80 horses standing on the dirt road nearby. I wasn’t sure if they were wild or owned by someone. Horsed in Mongolia were a very important status-symbol and the more you had, the greater your reputation and standing in society. Towards Moron, northern Mongolia 2006.

The glaciers here were the same as in Nepal and were covered in rubble. I only saw exposed ice on the higher parts of the mountains, icecaps and icefalls. As I sketched, I heard rocks falling down the sides of the mountains and onto the glacier, and ice moving inside the glacier, which made a deep cracking sound. Near Mt Everest, southern Tibet 2006.

Near the lake, I came across a guy who looked like he was from the west of China and was dressed in his traditional Islamic clothes worn in the Xinjiang area. He had a small stall selling a large biscuit in a block, full of nuts, dried fruits and honey. He sliced off a piece with his huge machete for 5Y, while locals looked on with curiosity. It tasted fantastic. Like a big nut and fruit muesli bar. Gejiu, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

A boy who had stowed himself away on the train, was caught by the guards and placed in a small, locked room at the end of the carriage. I could hear him mournfully calling out for what seemed like ages for someone to let him out. The poor kid. I wondered what happened to him, but imagined he was thrown off at the next station. Tain to Erdenet, northern Mongolia 2006.

The young taxi driver went like a bat-out-of-hell, getting up to 150km/h on rough, potholed, crumbling roads. We whizzed past dramatic desert mountains and plains, then passed a large lake and extensive farmland, only slowing down through some settlements or police checkpoints. It was a wild ride that made rollercoasters seem tame, as the risk of death was very real and of course no one was wearing a seat belt. Towards Khujand, northern Tajikistan 2014.

I had one last major obstacle to cross when I got back to the stream I had hopped across in the morning. By now, it was a waist deep torrent full of freezing cold glacier meltwater. I had to wade across it with my daypack on my back and the drawing folder in my arm. I got my pants wet and almost lost balance and fell in but managed to get across without soaking my drawings. As soon as I got back, I took off my wet clothes and dried them out in the wind. To my surprise, within 15 minutes the super-dry air had completely dried my pants and shirt. Near Mt Everest, southern Tibet 2006.

I spent most of the day here, exploring the temples, wandering about the maze of laneways, and up on the hills around it, where lots of stupas with masses of prayer-flags fluttered in the breeze. It was great to just sit under these and hear this sound, along with the long horns being blown to bring the monks in to pray in the temples. It was also lovely to just sit here and look out across the snow-covered landscape and mountains all around. Zhongdian, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

We finally headed off in our sardine tin Russian van, bouncing along rough dirt tracks across the Mongolian countryside, over hills and down into valleys. I was sandwiched between the bare shoulder of a big man on my left, a woman on my right and the heavy heads of their two small children on my lap. I could hardly move, so by the time we stopped for our first break, I was aching all over. We would stop for breaks every few hours and would spill out of the van onto the grass and lie down, rubbing and stretching our sore limbs. Towards Moron, northern Mongolia 2006.

I spent the afternoon and evening in the old town bazaars and the mud walled parts near the river. It was lovely to walk through and explore the alleyways and small streets in all the nooks and crannies of what was the last remnant of old Kashgar. It reminded me a little of the medinas in Morocco with lots of kids playing in the quiet lane ways while mothers and grandparents sat and talked in open doorways. It was a nice change from the sterile, bland concrete of the Chinese part of town with all the traffic and noise. Kashgar, western China 2014.

I had retired to my bed, when I heard a horse gallop up to my ger outside, so I got up to investigate. It was now pouring with rain as I opened the heavy fabric door, and a Mongolian man dressed in a traditional red coat and hat appeared. His breath stank of vodka as he staggered while looking around inside, then realized he had come to the wrong ger and went off next door. After a few minutes of talking with the family there, I heard him bolt away on his horse with the sound of thundering hooves disappearing into the night. Lake Khovsgol, northern Mongolia 2006.

It was like I had come into a Nepalese village, and the Naxi people who lived here looked similar. I got a very basic room in a guesthouse with five other foreigners staying. We had a traditional meal with the family around a big table. There were lots of dishes made up of different parts of a pig. It was a great experience and reminded me of my treks in Nepal staying in family-run lodges. I spent the rest of the evening sitting on the verandah looking out across the deep valley towards the peaks of Jade Dragon Mountain as the sun went down. Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, southern China 2004.

I walked down to the Kyrgyz mosque by the river where lots of mothers and daughters were washing large carpets and rugs which looked like secret women´s business. Hard work, but a good social activity and time to catch up on news and gossip on this late Sunday afternoon. Murghab, eastern Tajikistan 2014.

There were crowds of Chinese tourists climbing up the steep pathways and dressed as though they had just walked out of a trendy shopping mall, with girls in their short skirts and high heels. To give them credit, they didn’t complain and seemed to be enjoying the day. They were just as keen as I was to get out and walk in these stunning mountains. It was quite funny to see all these fashionably dressed walkers, but I wondered what would happen if the weather turned bad. Hua Shan, n-e China 2006. 

I walked through the very noisy shopping district with the sound of clapping hands from all the shop assistants trying to get people´s attention. I found it quite unpleasant and was glad to get into the relative tranquility of Renmin Park which was more of an amusement park with lots of rides and things for kids to do, along with paddle boats, table-tennis and organized singing and dancing for adults. People fished out of the lakes and kids fished out of little pools. One of the funniest things was seeing a merry-go-round with boxing kangaroos. Turkish dancing seemed to be popular with a large group getting into it, along with couples doing the tango under the covered walkways. Urumqi, western China 2014.

Around midnight, we heard a pack of wolves howling in the forest nearby, as the full moon was rising. The dogs guarding the animals went crazy, and the two sons went out to check on them. It was quite a spine-tingling sound to hear them so close. The grandmother and one grandchild slept in the other bed, while all the rest of the family went off to the nearby hut for the night. Around 1am, a big thunderstorm came over with thunder and lightning close by, then it started pouring with rain. Outside, I could hear the others in the hut shouting, and before long, they all came running into the ger and made their beds on the floor. Obviously, the wooden hut wasn´t waterproof. They all settled down, but I found it difficult to sleep with all the snoring, farting and smell of vodka breath filling up the ger, along with two crying toddlers. Lake Khovsgol, northern Mongolia 2006.

I had a look around a village and came across very polluted waterways and areas of dumped rubbish. I took photographs of this and other examples around Xingyi along with a woman walking down the main street carrying two heavy baskets on a pole over her shoulder full of plastic, glass and cardboard for recycling. A strong woman. Xingyi, Guizhou, southern China 2003.

Every morning here, I saw a big hairy dog lying in the middle of the road with traffic dodging around it. I wasn’t sure if it was sick or just liked the warm tarmac in the sun. There were so many dogs on the streets and hanging around the market waiting for scraps of meat. Most were small, but some were big hairy lion-types, which I gave a wide berth. Li tang, central China 2006.

I followed the escarpment south for 2km to a good spot looking right along the Murghab River valley and while drawing here, I was visited by a large herd of goats and sheep, along with their shepherd and his grandson who carried a grasshopper in his cap. They watched me draw, then moved away up the slopes as rain clouds approached from the west. Pamir Mtns, eastern Tajikistan 2014.

Central Asian, Chinese and Mongolian photos (Click arrow below to view all galleries).

Europe and Morocco 1990 to 2015.

European and Moroccan journal extracts.

As I remembered from when I lived in Scotland in 1990/91, the tides on the west coast were quite strong with up to 4m between low and high tides. At low tide, I could walk out about 1km from the end of the loch, and it felt like I was on an island in the middle of the loch with fantastic scenery all around. When the tide turned, I had to move quickly to get back to the shore as the sea rushed back in. Knoydart, western Scotland 2007.

The Market and Main Squares were so beautiful and such a surprise, as I knew nothing about them. Sometimes, it’s better to arrive in a place without prior knowledge and just discover its secrets. I thought Warsaw had been entirely rebuilt into a modern city, including the bombed-out remains of the old town centre. This was the case in most parts of the city, including the old Jewish quarter, which was deliberately flattened by the occupying German forces, and that is where the Soviet-era and newer buildings are now. Warsaw, Poland 2006.

After my first week of living in my flat on the huge estate of communist-era blocks, I was starting to get used to this environment. I quickly realized the people living here were just like anywhere else and it wasn´t a dodgy place full of drug dealers and criminals. The park right below my flat was usually full of kids playing ball games or on the swings in the playground, while parents talked together and sat on park benches. Zvolen, central Slovakia 2014.

On the south-west side of the island was a large rusting iron hulk of a ship-wrecked freighter called the MV Plassy. It had run aground during a big storm on nearby Innis Rock in 1960 while sailing through Galway Bay. It was carrying a cargo of whisky, stained glass and yarn, and the entire crew were rescued by the islanders using a breeches buoy. Several weeks later, another storm washed the ship off the rock and drove it ashore on the island where it still is today. Isle of Inisheer, western Ireland 2005.

Two hours after leaving Ulan Ude, the train followed the southern shores of Lake Baikal for about 200km around to its south-west end. It looked like a sea, although flat with a cold mist making visibility poor to begin with. It reminded me of the Black Sea coast of Turkey as we passed headlands, villages and through forests along the way. As it was Saturday, many people were out camping, fishing and picnicking under the trees by the lakeshore. Eastern Siberia, Russia 2006.

As it was about 4pm by now, I decided to stay the night in this coastal village, and it turned out the very next house offered me a nice room and even plied me with raki and chocolate as a welcome gesture. I drew the sea and cliffs from the balcony of my room, while the sun went down. It was wonderful watch the sea as the light slowly faded, with some misty rain falling. S-w coast of Crete 2009.

I continued on up to the top of the ridge to the so-called Meteora Monastery. It was the oldest one in this area, built on a larger rock and made up of numerous buildings spread over the top, rather than a single structure. This one was open today, so I had a look inside its beautiful chapel highly decorated with Byzantine icons with the ones of the sacrifice being particularly gory. Lots of chopped off limbs, blood and guts. I also saw a large kitchen and storehouse full of wine vats and ferocious-looking stuffed dogs. There was a nice little garden and a spectacular view from the balcony overlooking the Harvaan Monastery in the valley below. Meteora, northern Greece 1992.

I took a train to Horice and did a circular walk via forest and a church on a hill, on a lovely sunny winters’ day. I walked back towards Horice with the sun setting orange in front of me as it set around 4pm. I had to walk fast to catch the train back home via Sadova. At this junction, two small diesel trains arrived from the north and west, so I could change trains and hop on the one heading east back home to Hradec Kralove. I would do this trip a few times and was always amazed at the perfect timing of the trains arriving at this junction in the middle of nowhere. East Bohemia, Czechia 2006.

The early days here were a good time to get to know the area and a better sense of orientation. The autumn weather at this time was so beautiful. It was still warm during the day with hardly a breath of wind. The leaves on the trees were starting to change colour and slowly turning from green to yellow and red. I spent a lot of time down by the loch on my days off and sketched the landscape. One time, I sketched the changing light over a series of three drawings as the sun went down. We had some amazing sunsets during this time, with clear skies and clouds turning pinky-red underneath. Loch Rannoch, central Scotland 1990.

On Saturday, I had a day in Prague, which I would do every few weeks. My ritual was a short walk from the main station to a great cafe’ in an Art Nouveau building in the city after buying an English paper (the Guardian, Independant, Times) at a kiosk on the street on the way. This time, I bought more art materials from a great art supply shop here, then had lunch in a favourite place by the river, then a good walk back to the Kumpa Gallery and to the old town centre and square with its medieval cathedral. Often buskers would be playing here or on the Charles Bridge. Prague, Czechia 2007.

I went for a walk down the south side of the Hron River passed a very bleak looking building with half of its roof missing. It looked like there had been a fire in the attic, causing part of the roof to collapse. I then noticed lots of people around this building and realized they actually lived in it. This was my first encounter with gypsies in Zvolen and the place where they lived. It was quite shocking to see the appalling conditions they lived in and how many of them seemed to be living in this condemned, half burnt-out building. It was worse than what I had seen in Czechia and I wondered how this could be happening, particularly now Slovakia was a part of the European Union. With winter coming, I wondered what it would be like living in that hovel in the freezing cold. Zvolen, central Slovakia 2014.

I returned to the walls and spent another day sketching and slowly walking all the way around. It was a perfect day in lovely warm sunshine. I then headed up the ridge behind Dubrovnik via steps, laneways and a zigzag trail with great views of the old walled city and coast. On reaching the top, I noticed there were lots of old trenches from the war with Serbia. From here, the Serbs pounded the city with shells and machine guns, destroying much of the city and killing many people. Dubrovnik, southern Croatia 2006.

I had a good map I borrowed from Ole and followed trails up through the forest and stopped by one of the small lakes where I saw a large beaver mound of sticks in the middle. I sat down and waited to see if the beavers might come out and swim about but there was no sign of them. Instead, I was lucky enough to see a mother moose appear on the opposite bank, then I saw its baby come right down to the lakeside. The mother moose must have spotted me and ran off into the forest, but the baby hung around a while before wandering off back up the hill. I had heard moose can be dangerous, so I walked off quickly in case the mother came around to chase me off. Telemark, central Norway 2009.

Tired and grotty after five days on the Trans-Mongolian train from Ulan Bator without a proper wash, I had a cold shower then headed back into the city on the metro to a stop near the Kremlin. I walked to an Italian restaurant opposite the Pushkin Art Gallery where I had a very tasty pizza. It was a lovely warm evening as I walked by the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, over the bridge and along the Moscow River passed the Kremlin with its impressive red walls, round towers and gold and white church domes and palaces poking up behind. Moscow, Russia 2006.

I had fantastic views from the top, and after finishing the drawings there I headed down the east side straight back to the road via some fields, following a pilgrim’s track. It was a shortcut back to Carrick where I stopped at the pub for a nice dinner and Guinness, then walked back in the dark along the narrow road up to the hostel. Donegal region, n-w Ireland 2007.

I was happy with the work and life balance here but only accepted it knowing I was going to leave after one teaching year. I was accustomed to being well paid for teaching work and was used to living comfortably off 15 teaching hours a week in Australia and could easily save money. Accommodation was not included here, as it was previously when I worked in Poland and Czechia. That meant half my wages went on rent and I could barely pay my living expenses with the rest. Anything extra had to come out of my savings. Cost of living and stagnant wages in Europe meant teaching English was no longer as lucrative as before, even compared to my previous jobs. Zvolen, central Slovakia 2015.

By my first day off, I felt I could cope with this job and the other conditions for the duration of the summer period. This would be just enough time to enjoy this beautiful city and the festival, including all the free events that were on during the day, such as music and comedy acts performed in the pubs as a promotion for their main concerts in one of the theatres. But still, the job was a real slog, which I endured only so I could save some money to move on and have somewhere to stay for free. Edinburgh, Scotland 1990.

I had a good walk from Vaclavice over to Nahod, then down by a river and up to Novy Mesto. It rained as I walked along the river, and I got a bit wet. After having a look around the town square and having a beer in one of the pubs there, I got the train back just in time to take my Intermediate English class at 5.30pm. It got very windy tonight, and a huge front swept across central Europe from the west, causing a lot of damage and huge swathes of forest to be flattened. I would later see this on my walks with countless trees uprooted and toppled over like toy trees with their bases overturned. East Bohemia, Czechia 2007.

It was superb weather again today, so I could enjoy these views in sunny still conditions for hours, as I drew this beautiful snow-covered landscape. Eventually, I returned via the same way and slid down the steep slope from the top of the ridge, dodging rocks and bushes on the way down. Tatry Mtns, southern Poland 2009.

As in Vienna, I had four nights and three full days here in Prague to explore this wonderful city. I would have my breakfast in a lovely café in an Art Neveau arcade in the same building I was staying, where there was a strange statue of a knight on an upside-down horse. I would come to this same café on regular day trips to Prague while I lived 100km to the east in Hradec Kralove, from September 2006 to July 2007. Prague, Czechia 2005.

I could see it was the same old crate of a ferry I took from Santorini to Crete five weeks earlier and after a long docking maneuver, we boarded the old tub just after 6pm. With the setting sun making a pink glow on the underside of the clouds over Sitia and with all the over-loaded trucks on board, we finally headed off on our night journey to Karpathos. The ferry turned around and chugged out of the bay and headed north-east with the dark outlines of the coast and islands to be seen as we passed. Ferry leaving Sitia, n-e Crete 2009.

It was a lovely walk down the valley all the way around to the west coast of the island from where I got a lift back to Lochranza late in the day. It was a great time to be out walking, as these warm summer days were long with the sun not going down until well after 10pm and it stayed light until midnight. Isle of Arran, s-w Scotland 1996.

I took a train north to Vikanova and followed a yellow trail up a valley and into the forested hills between Zvolen and Banska Bystica. On the way up, I came across a group of hunters with their rifles and not long after, a couple of large deer ran across the path in front of me. At the top of the ridge, I turned north along a blue trail that followed the ridge-top through forest passed an observatory, then down a zigzag track to Banska Bystrica. There was a pre-Christmas night market set up in the main square with lots of stalls selling food. The nights were getting very cold now, but still no snow yet. Banska Bystrica region, central Slovakia 2014.

The views from the shore of the loch were very beautiful, with the pure fresh snow contrasting with the dark steely waters. It was also lovely to walk into the village and see everything turned to white with snow piled high on the roadsides. It was now truly a white wonderland. We were now cut-off from the outside world with all roads in blocked by heavy snow. The signs in the village that read 20km to Pitlochry and Aberfeldy gave an extra sense of isolation now. Loch Rannoch, central Scotland 1990.

I climbed in through a hole in the rocks and stripped off for a bath in its hot blue water. In fact, I could only manage to stay in for about five minutes and had to get out before my feet and hands started to cook. I went in a second time into this clear blue volcanic spring water, which apparently up stream at a resort people were charged a large fee to experience. I got right in under the water a few times before getting out, as it must have been almost 60 degrees. Myvatn region, n-e Iceland 2009.

I took in the surrounding landscape and had to pinch myself to make sure this was real, as it was such a beautiful place. I couldn´t believe how lucky I was to be here and have this place as my home for the foreseeable future. The village was very cute, with its two old stone pubs, churches, cluster of small shops, stone cottages, and a lovely stone bridge across the stream that comes out of Loch Rannoch. I felt I had landed in a paradise where I could go walking and bike riding in the mountains and hill-country, swim in the loch in summer and skiing in winter. Loch Rannoch, central Scotland 1990.

I walked along a farm road to the base of the first hill on the east side of a narrow valley, then followed a track up a ridge to the first peak of around 650m. Incredible views of the surrounding countryside opened up as I climbed this ridge in clear weather. From the top, I could see far across the marshy moorlands with countless lakes towards the sea. Connemara, western Ireland 2005.

Apart from the main lines, there were very few trains crossing the border in places like this, anywhere in Europe. And of course, there were the police checks, passport control and immigration to go through each time I crossed a border. You really knew you were crossing a frontier then and going from one distinctive country to another. It was a particular identity and charm that was lost when the European Union came into being and all these borders effectively disappeared. The Spanish Portuguese border, 1991.

It seemed like a special public holiday for the navy, as there were huge crowds and lots of naval officers around the waterfront between the Winter Palace and the Old Fort on the island across the bridge. The green and white Winter Palace came into view as I walked around from the main shopping street of Novesky Prospect and into Palace Square. It was a cold and cloudy day with a chill wind blowing off the river as I walked across the bridge from the palace. On the middle island, a Russian pop group were playing to the crowd. I walked over another bridge to the next island near the fort and around to a fare-ground and park where lots of people were out for the day. I noticed people here smiled and showed happiness, unlike those in Moscow who rarely showed their feelings in public.  St Petersburg, n-w Russia 2006.

By mid March, winter was well and truly over, and spring had come to the landscape around Plonsk. The fields were turning green, and flowers were blooming with the warmer weather. This was a nice time to be out walking in the countryside and doing some sketches, which I then used for larger drawings. One of my favourite subjects was the rather derelict train station and industrial zone on the edge of Plonsk, and I would end up doing quite a few drawings of this area. Plonsk, central Poland 2009.

I took a train to Krivan and followed a blue trail through some nice countryside past some villages. I then took some quiet roads down and up a valley to a ridge where I followed a red trail over a forested hilltop and down to Detva Station by the Slatina River. It was a lovely, sunny day out in this open country with a number of shrines along the trails like I saw in Czechia and Poland. Zvolen region, southern Slovakia 2014.

It was a mostly dry day, but a bit windy as I headed around the bay and followed the cliff tops up to a peak of 375m, then down to the lake and waterfall that flowed into the sea. I did sketches along the way and admired this incredible scene of high cliffs dropping into the sea and the islands in the bay. The wind was very strong now, with some rain and mist on top, but I managed to find sheltered spots to draw from. Faroe Isles 2009.

Although I had a signed contract for this job, I was essentially employed as a permanent casual worker paid only for the hours I worked. If I was sick or an individual student cancelled a lesson, I didn´t get paid for that time. So, although it looked good on paper with lots of lessons with single adult students, if many of them were away in the same week my hours of pay could drop dramatically. Fortunately, it didn´t happen to that extent. Zvolen, central Slovakia 2014.

Maria, who owned the apartments, was a lovely old lady and was often giving me things such as coffee, cheese, hot lunches, biscuits and fruit. She charged me only 20E a night for my comfortable flat with a balcony, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. Most of my neighbours in the other flats were guest-workers here to harvest the olives and other crops. Karpathos, Greece 2009.

I took a trolleybus to Leona and Peter´s flat on the south side of town. On finding their address, I rang the buzzer so they could let me in and headed up in the lift to the eleventh floor. It was nice to see them again after two and a half years. Peter was still working at the radio station and Leona was still teaching. There hadn’t been a native English teacher since I left, which meant there wouldn´t have been work for me even if I wanted to stay. Leona had written a book about all the teachers who had worked for her in the past twenty years, and she gave me a copy. I was described as the happy man, always off travelling about the place, while a few others were seen as rather sad characters. Hradec Kralove, central Czechia 2009.

It was slow-going over the peat bogs with the heavy rain over the previous few weeks and carrying a big pack. I hadn´t done this for over a year, so I was a bit out of shape. All this was tempered by the spectacular landscape of this country as I walked towards the mountains near Glencoe. It was very clear, with dark clouds creating a dramatic atmosphere. Rannoch Moor, central Scotland 1991.

I walked above some magnificent cliffs with a huge swell coming in off the Atlantic Ocean of maybe 8m or more with waves breaking up to 15m high on the west side of the cape. On both the south and west sides of the cape were some dramatic cliffs, blowholes, arches and sea-stacks. The noise was tremendous, and the sea spray reached the tops of the cliffs. The sea must be deep near the cliffs and the waves didn´t break on the south side but kept rolling by. One blowhole was particularly impressive. As the swell rolled into it, huge amounts of sea spray would explode from the hole as high as the cliff-face. Sagre, southern Portugal 2009.

The weather had been sunny and still every day with lovely autumn colours, especially along the Labe River north of Hradec Kralove. A new path had been built along a levee-bank on the east side of the river, which I followed as far as a lake. It was glorious to see the reflections of the trees in the water as they changed colour. I did some more sketches along here, which were then used in the first lot of studio drawings done in the loft space at my place. Hradec Kralove, central Czechia 2006.

I had a nice day in a lovely historical town to the west of Zvolen, visiting a castle and having lunch at a restaurant on the square. It was great to have Miro´s company as his English level was quite good. He was one of my students and we would do lots of trips like this over the time I was here. He would pay for my lunch in return for these opportunities for English conversation and one of the few people here that I saw on a semi-regular basis outside my teaching work. Southern Slovakia 2014.

I got a bus to Toome, then walked west then tried to follow a river to Lough Neagh (a large lake in the middle of Northern Ireland) but I ended up in a farm being followed by a herd of cows. I then tried to get back to Toome via the lake but went the wrong way along a busy narrow road. I had to lean into the bushes to avoid being hit by large trucks, then run from one space to the next until I got out of there and back to Toome. I walked more than 25km and saw very little of the lake. Just flat farm country and horrible roads with no footpaths. One of the worst walks I’ve ever done. Toome region, Northern Ireland 2007.

I had missed the bus to Finisterre and had to walk around the coast to the next town of Corcubion. From here, I then started walking up a steep road towards Finisterre when finally, a car came by and picked me up. Due to the excursion of getting up the hill with my pack and not having time to cool down, I caused the windows to steam up in the car. We had to wind the windows down and wipe the windscreen so we could see out. I must have been sweating like a pig. It was a funny but embarrassing moment at the same time, and I tried not to laugh in case he took offence and kicked me out of his car. Towards Finisterre, n-w Spain 1991.

I wanted to see the tanneries from the roof tops, so I was directed to the terrace via a leather shop, up a dark stairway and out over a roof-top to where the tanning pools could be seen. It was an impressive sight, like something from India. Very organic, colourful, rustic and textured. I had a great view of the yellowed skins stretched out and hanging from lines across the rooftops. They stank of urine, as ammonia was used to sterilize them before the dyeing process, using the dozens of circular pools full of different coloured dyes. It was such an ancient, timeless scene, seeing men immersing the skins into the pools. Fez, northern Morocco 2009.

A very good Gypsy band played in the square and in a wedding procession from the cathedral back through the square to a hotel. I got to see two more weddings here. One in a church towards the station end of the square and one in a Russian Orthodox church which had a beautifully restored old red Skoda Felishia waiting for the bridge and groom outside. Presov, eastern Slovakia 2015.

European and Moroccan photos (Click arrow below to view all galleries).

Southern, western & south-eastern Asia 1989-90, 1992 & 1999.

Southern, western & south-east Asian journal extracts.

While having ice cream at a kiosk in central New Delhi, I saw the surreal sight of an elephant with a driver and a load of wood on its back walking down the middle of a busy road. Only in India! I would be saying this phrase many times here to explain the unexplainable. New Delhi, India 1989.

It was wonderful to be in this place alone, surrounded by a wall of high mountains on all sides. There was a clear blue sky, and there was no wind, so I could hear the huge glacier cracking and groaning as the ice inched its way down the valley, and rocks tumbling down the mountainsides. The glacier was covered in rubble that had fallen from the sides of the mountains, making it look like a huge quarry with crevasses appearing underneath. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

As I walked back beside the wall towards the Victory Tower in the late afternoon, the monkeys came out of the bushes below and ran along the walls like a big tribe of children, all playing and running about. Then, just as the sun was setting, the monkeys descended on the temples, looking for food left as offerings at various shrines, which people here were happy for them to take. They also annoyed the goats, who would head-but any monkey that got too close. Chittorgarh, western India 1992.

It took about five hours to cross the Sea of Marmara on this warm, sunny day, and for a while we were completely out of sight of land, as though we were in the middle of the ocean. As we approached Istanbul, many large ships came into view. Dozens of cargo ships were parked just south of the city, waiting to go north to the Soviet states on the Black Sea. Shortly after, the Golden Horn came into view with the many minarets sticking up around the mosques, and the famous Seven Hills that make up the old city of Istanbul. We approached in the last hour before sunset with the beautiful orange light behind the city. Istanbul, western Turkey 1990.

I had crossed a bridge near Jomsom and followed the trail on the right side of the river all the way to the village of Kagbeni at the junction of two valleys. One section of the track passed over a wide dry riverbed, then up through a narrow gap in the valley, where I encountered someone on a horse coming the other way. It turned out to be a young woman dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes on a white horse, gracefully picking its way across the treacherous river-rocks at full speed down the valley. It was beautiful to watch and seemed like another unlikely apparition. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

As I did previously, I spent much of the day sketching different parts of the monastery and observing the ceremonies in the temples. I had a lot of interaction with the younger monks, particularly while drawing. The rooftop on the highest temple commanded a superb view of the Indus Valley, the river and fields, along with the surrounding mountain ranges. I also saw a monk with two novices blow the long horns. At particular times of the day, the horns would be blown to call the monks to their Buddhist classes and ceremonies. The deep penetrating sound of these magnificent long horns echoed all around the valley. It was the distinctive signature sound of this Buddhist world that connected this ancient culture with the present. Indus Valley, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

I went for my first walk in this beautiful Cappadocian landscape, up a narrow valley along a trail leading up to the village of Uigup. Right next to the village, was a huge monolith and clusters of smaller ones around it. Like the ones in Goreme, they had holes cut into them, making them look like naturally formed apartment blocks of up to ten levels. It was a reminder of how much more bizarre and imaginative the real world is, compared to fantasies dreamed up in fairy tales. Cappadocia, central Turkey 1990.

After about three hours, it was starting to get harder to walk, with a strong wind blowing against me, causing snow-drifts that made it harder to see the track. Also, the altitude was really kicking in, as I reached 5000m and beyond. The wind got stronger the higher I went but fortunately, the snow wasn´t as thick, as most of it had been blown down the side below me. It started to flatten out a bit, making me think I was close to the pass, but I was presented with many false tops, as I slowly climbed from one to the next, stopping for breath every 50m or so. It took another two hours to finally reach the pass, where I found a small pile of rocks with prayer-flags flying in the wind. Thorong La, Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

I returned to Sankar, this time to sketch in the fields and ended up helping another family with the harvest and they invited me to have lunch with them. This was becoming a lovely routine and way to be immersed into the life here and to connect with the local people. I found the act of sketching seemed to break any boundaries. The children were always curious to see what I was doing and often sat with me for long periods of time and quietly watched me draw, and on this occasion, I did drawings of the family at work in the fields. Leh, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

Today was the start of Ramadan and there were no restaurants or cafés open this morning for breakfast, so I went to a bakery and bought a hot, fresh loaf of Turkish flat bread. They had a huge pizza-like oven about 4m deep and used long wooden paddles which the bread was placed inside with. There was a constant production of bread which piled up on a large table for the queue of people to buy. Tenduruk Dagi region, eastern Turkey 1990.

We passed the villages of Umlung and Hankar, then on up the valley for a while before turning north up a narrow side valley towards Kongmaru La. On this part, Tsering had gone way ahead with the two horses, but I had managed to catch up to a young woman with her donkeys. She had a basket full of woolen things on her back and was knitting while herding her animals along the path. I walked with her as she knitted and sang, with her voice floating up the sides of the valley. She noticed I was not well and pulled out a long woolen scarf from her basket and offered it to me. It was a lovely colourful, soft woolen scarf which I immediately wrapped around my cold neck. The donkeys were stubborn to move, so the woman indicated that I prod them with a stick from behind while she led them from the front. We continued slowly up the valley for a few hours before reaching the village of Tachungtse at around 4500m altitude. Markha Valley, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

About 5km from the main town and lake, was another beautiful Jain temple complex, similar to the one I saw at Ranakpur. Some reconstruction work was being done to a small temple just outside and on the stone roof. Stone masons were doing some carving work inside, while women were involved as labourers in bringing cement, sand and stones, along with doing other labouring work in support of the craftsmen working above or inside the temple. Mt Abu, western India 1992.

I passed some intriguing three-level stone houses along the way that reminded me of ones back in Ladakh, with animals, feed and firewood on the ground floor and the living spaces above. They had ornately carved black and red wooden window frames, doorways and eaves on the roof, while the walls were made up of finely cut and laid white-washed stones. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

Just before sunrise, the bus stopped on a bridge over a small stream surrounded by fields, somewhere near the town of Punea. Other buses stopped and the drivers got out to talk. Then, all the passengers got out, which was when I found out we were part of a blockade for a bus strike. I was told three bus drivers had been killed in some dispute. The traffic started to build up in both directions, then after about one hour, some trucks drove across the fields and forded the stream and back up onto the road, effectively getting around the blockade. Before long, there was a long line of trucks and cars going this way. Eventually the bus drivers ended the blockade, as it was now ineffective. We all got back in the bus and drove off towards Siliguri. Towards Siliguri, n-e India 1992.

I joined the others with all of Punsoc´s family in their kitchen downstairs for dinner where I ate my first of many dalhbarts. It was so fresh and fantastic. We all ate many extra helpings of vegetable curry, dalh, rice and roti (flat bread) and washed it down with many cups of hot chai (Indian-style tea). I marveled at the kitchen with its beautiful earthy clay oven which our dinner was cooked on and in. Lots of cooking pots in different places and roti slapped on the hot sides. Cabinets lined the sides of the kitchen full of bowls, plates and utensils, while lines of pots and pans of all shapes and sizes hung from hooks above. Leh, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

The sun was setting as I walked from the Iranian side of the border to the Turkish side. It was actually at a pass in the mountains with the sun setting over the 5000m volcano known as Mt Ararat to the west. It was a stunning sight, and I wanted to photograph it but that was forbidden in this border zone between these two countries. The Iran Turkey border 1990.

I got a standard cattle-class ticket for the train to Patna and collected my pack from the storage area. It turned out to be a five hour journey from hell squeezed amongst a solid mass of bodies. I sat by a water fountain, so whenever someone had a drink and spat in the bowl, I got a spray. Like the trip into Mumbai, I felt like an exotic tree in an Indian forest swaying with the movement of the train. The only light came through the open door, as there was no light inside the carriage, and being near the toilet the stench was overwhelming. The train kept stopping and as there was no breeze, the smell and humidity would build up from all the body heat. Towards Patna, northern India 1992.

The road down this steep-sided valley was no more than a narrow, muddy track with a 1000m sheer drop to the valley floor below and overhung with rocks and ice ready to crush any unfortunate truck or bus. We traversed across the steepest part and around to where we dropped down a long series of switchbacks down the side of the valley with a mere 50-degree gradient. After finally descending this, we followed the valley down to a roadside stop for food by some shacks. Now we were finally in Kashmir. Kashmir, n-w India 1989.

On the way up the mountain, I came across a very gaudy collection of temples and pagodas that looked like wedding cakes. From the summit, I walked through the gardens hoping to get a glimpse of the coast and city below but only saw the inside of clouds. Penang, northern Malasia 1992.

I found a nice lodge in Muktinath, just beyond the main part of the village. An attractive young woman was running it and said she saw me two days ago while she was riding her horse down to Jomsom to get some supplies. Yes, it was the Tibetan woman I saw as I walked over the river-rocks. I complimented her on her horse-riding skills, to which she said it was something she had done since she was a child growing up in Tibet. Somehow, her family were able to get here, like so many other refugees and migrants since the Chinese takeover. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

The bus arrived in the town of Bannu, where I had a brief stop while waiting for my next bus to Dera Ismail Khan. I sat in a teashop accompanied by a group of curious locals, including a giant of a man. He would have been about seven feet tall and had a huge face, hands and feet. He was like a true gentle giant, who later chaperoned me to another bus stop, making sure no harm would come to me before I got onto my bus. Bannu, western Pakistan 1990.

We barreled along the narrow road, swerving around oncoming trucks before starting a long climb up a series of switchbacks leading up to Lamayuru. This truck was not only old but had trouble getting around the tight corners in one go. Many times, the driver had to do a three-point turn, which was a terrifying maneuver as his handbrake starts had to be perfect or the back wheels would go over the cliff, and we would bounce down 500m or more to the bottom. This happened many times on this section of road and showed the skill of this driver as I could see the back of the truck hanging over the edge as he backed up, stopped, engaged first gear, released the clutch and the old truck roared off towards the next switchback. Towards Lamayuru, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

I had a good wander around the countryside, with numerous clusters of pinnacles, each with its own character and sculptural appearance. A large proportion had been carved into and inhabited over the past 1000 years, with many having a strong Byzantine appearance. Erosion had taken its toll, with large pieces falling away over time to reveal hollow interiors. Only a few were still used today, mainly for storage of animal feed. Cappadocia, central Turkey 1990.

One of the most confronting sights was seeing so many beggars, cripples, lepers and people with elephantiasis sitting along the footpaths around the city begging for money. I even saw a woman begging with her children placed across the pavement. The children all had broken limbs or deformities. Kolkata, n-e India 1990.

Today, I took what would be one of the best rail journeys I’ve taken. From Bandung to Yogyakarta, the train travelled through lush green hill-country covered in tea plantations with pickers in broad-brimmed woven grass hats. In the distance were three huge conical-shaped volcanoes, looking like Egyptian pyramids lining up on the horizon. Towards Yogyakarta, central Java, Indonesia 1992.

While walking back through Old Delhi towards Pahaganj through the bazaars and busy streets full of people, I passed a sadhu with a large knife stuck in his stomach. I had to step around him as he walked past, seeing the horrific sight of dried blood and guts. I first thought it must be fake, but India is full of these kinds of shocks and surprises and people don´t do things like this just for a laugh. It´s not in their nature. I came to the conclusion that it was real and somehow this Hindu holy man could live with this massive injury to his internal organs without having medical treatment. The power of the mind. Delhi, India 1992.

About half an hour before my train was due to depart, I was told to grab my pack and was escorted out of the police station to a waiting 4WD. I was driven back to the railway station at high speed through the streets of Tehran with armed officers either side of me. On arrival, the officer who was driving turned around and shook my hand and said, Okay, goodbye. Another officer helped me with my pack, while people looked on with curiosity. Perhaps they were thinking what a lucky bastard I was to be let go by the police. Tehran, Iran 1990.

I wandered through a village of lovely thatched roofed long-houses with their huge peaks, carved wooden pillars and cross beams. It reminded me of Nepal, with lots of kids running about yelling; one rupee, one pen, one bonbon. The village was near a volcano, on a lush fertile plateau. Lingga, northern Sumatra, Indonesia 1992.

I saw a body being cremated with a relative tending to its burning. When body-parts stuck out from the burning wood heap, he would push the limbs and skull back into the fire with a long stick. The heat and smell of burning human flesh was intense, forcing me away out of range. Kathmandu, Nepal 1990.

Fortunately, today would be a short walk of about three hours up the valley to Markha Village. After setting up camp, I spent the afternoon on the left side of the river in the village. It was perched up on a ridge sticking out above the river. In the centre of the village, was a tiny monastery where locals had placed offerings of grain and vegetables near the entrance as tribute to the one monk who resided here. I had a look inside where I met the monk and made an offering of ten rupees. He promptly sat me down and made some yak butter tea on his little stove. It was a lovely sight as he sat waiting for the pot to boil with a beam of sunlight from the open door hitting the stove and snowflakes drifting down from a hole where the chimney pipe went through the roof. Markha Valley, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

It was such an impressive and dramatic sight with the long reflection pool running between it and the entrance gate. The whiteness of the structure seemed to make it float or hover in the air, and its curves gave it the appearance of a strange flower, like a lotus about to pop open. Taj Mahal, Agra, northern India 1990.

These steam trains were quite thirsty beasts and had to stop every few hours to fill up with water. I didn´t really mind as it was an interesting trip through a real backwater with not a vehicle to be seen. It was beautiful to see camels cruising by with loads on their backs, and groups of women in sarees carrying pots of water or bundles of wood, clothes or food on their heads. With the sun going down, it all looked like a very timeless scene. It reminded me that once I got away from the main lines India had changed very little over the centuries. Towards Chittorgah, western India 1992.

I made my way slowly up the valley until it opened up with fantastic views across to a high bowl-shaped mountain (Numaling) to the south-east. I stopped on a rocky shelf and waited for Tsering to catch up. While here, I saw prairie dogs popping out of their burrows and squeaking at the slightest danger. This came in the form of golden eagles gliding above in search of one that strayed too far from safety. Markha Valley, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

I was pleased to find that the town of Padang Bai was a nice quiet little place set in a small cove with headlands at each end. Numerous traditional fishing boats with outriggers lined the beach. They were brightly painted with fish designs on their prows and looked beautiful out on the water going at quite a speed with their sails up in a strong breeze, particularly in the late afternoon. Padang Bai, eastern Bali, Indonesia 1992.

The rain that we had over the past 24 hours had cleared to reveal a stunning view of high mountain peaks with the sun glowing off the ice on their sharp rocky summits. Clouds hung and moved around as the air warmed up during the morning, occasionally obscuring the peaks and creating a dynamic and ever-changing atmosphere. I had got up at sunrise with frost on the ground to see the first light on the peaks. The sun glowed red and orange, as though the mountains emitted the light themselves. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

I explored more of Leh´s narrow lanes and back-streets and I found these and the buildings that lined them to have a lot of rustic organic character. Lots of nooks and crannies, odd windows, doors and roof ornaments. Some highly coloured and ornate and others earthy and sculptural. Hidden away among these were numerous Buddhist stupas and statues. There was a layered and labyrinthine appearance to this medieval looking town below the fortress-like ruins of Leh Palace. The dirty, smelly open drains just added to this experience of being taken way back in time to a world that has long disappeared from the West. The people, particularly the women, wore traditional clothing and walked with carts and donkeys or carried loads on their backs and heads. Leh, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

After a bit of a wait at the junction, we finally headed west to the Iranian border. We picked up speed as we came straight towards a mountain range then disappeared into a long tunnel. We came out about 10 minutes later with the setting sun over the desert plains towards the Afghan border only about 10km to the north. Quetta region, western Pakistan 1990.

By midday, it was quite hot and sticky, so I regularly cooled off with a swim in the sea. As I walked down the coast, I passed Juna Beach which was very popular with the French and Italians who played nude volleyball and tennis on the beach between groups of cows cooling off on the sand. No doubt this was the reason why large crowds of Indian men were standing around under the trees up above having a good perve. Goa, western India 1992.

I visited the main mosque in the old town, which was quite a beautifully proportioned building with a lovely peaceful courtyard. It wasn´t as monumental as the one in Lahore, but with similarly intricate Indo-Persian design and stonework. I was welcomed in and spoke with a group of students and their teacher. It was a very tranquil place and somewhere to study, meet and just take time-out from the mad world outside. I had a shock when I walked out to find my shoes were not there, only to find some kind person had moved them inside the front door of the mosque. Peshewar, western Pakistan 1990.

It was lovely to just float about amongst these gardens with only the sounds of nature and people tending their crops. A young girl came up to my boat in her small canoe with a lotus flower in her hand. She theatrically popped open the flower and laid it in front of me then held out her hand and asked for a fee, saying baksheesh. I was too tight-arsed to give her a rupee. What a stingy bastard I´d become. Kashmir, n-w India 1989.

A group of very large goat-like ibex ran down the hillside just in front of me. They were a group of females and juveniles, with dark chests and light bellies. There was just one big male with large thick curly horns like a buffalo. He stood at well over two metres high and almost the size of a horse. They didn´t seem to be too bothered with me as they trotted by down towards the river. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

Set among rolling hills was the incredible sight of Borobubur. A giant stepped pyramid rising from the valley in the shape of a Buddhist mandala. I spent hours wandering over each of its levels, marveling at the stonework and carvings of Buddhist imagery. Yogyakarta region, central Java, Indonesia 1992.

Finally, around 7am, we headed out of Leh along the main road down towards Spitok Gompa in a long convoy of trucks going out to Kashmir and beyond. We went at breakneck speed along the narrow strip of bitumen with the truck lurching to the side each time we passed oncoming vehicles. I watched the surroundings diminish away as I sat swaying on a sack of grain at the back of the truck. We belted along like this for two hours before reaching the village of Saspol where I was dropped off. Indus Valley, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

A tiny handmade Ferris-wheel was being put together with the operators using sandbags to test it would spin around properly. A crowd of local kids waited eagerly for it to be ready. One by one, they took the bags out of each of the four pairs of seats and four to six children and adults were placed in. Once all four compartments were full of people, the operators spun the rickety square wooden wheel around to the screams of the excited children. Some were even a bit scared and started crying as they went around the top of the wheel. Darjeeling region, n-e India 1990.

From here on, the road to Goa was extremely rough. It was just one continuous series of potholes and corrugations. It was as bad as the road trip from Kathmandu across the plains of eastern Nepal two years earlier, with the only smooth bits being the concrete bridges. We didn´t stop again until about 1am at another diner, where we could at least have a piss and stretch our legs. It turned out to be a torturous journey with no chance of any sleep. From here, we had no more stops until about 8am, where we were able to have drinks and go to the toilet. It was amazing we got here without any flat tyres or busted axles. The driver must have been on drugs to be able to stay awake all that time. Towards Goa, western India 1992.

We were stopped five times at police checkpoints in the first 20km after leaving Zahedan. At one, a young officer came straight up to me and asked for my passport. He looked at it up-side-down, then handed it back. Another time, a senior officer pulled out his pistol and waved it at a group of elderly Afghan-looking men. He ordered them off the bus and lined them up outside with their hands behind their heads. He had them frisked by the soldiers while he marched up and down the line of men shouting and waving his gun in their faces. They looked terrified, which was the effect he wanted. Zahaden region, southern Iran 1990.

I spent the early morning back up at Hemis Gompa in the courtyard and up on the roof taking black and white print photos and sketching the rooftop ornaments and surrounding village and landscape. Two novice monks blew large conch shells to call in all the monks for the morning religious ceremony. It was a nice place to spend the morning as the sun rose, warming the chilly air. The large cylindrical ornaments along the edge of the rooftop were usually painted in black and white with sculls on top. I´m not sure what purpose they had, but perhaps they were from pre-Buddhist times with ancient superstitions of good and bad spirits and maybe they were here to ward off the bad ones. Hemis, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

I walked upstream past all the temples to an area where lots of women were washing clothes on the banks of the river. Once they finished washing, they then twisted each garment and belted it against a stone slab to get the water out. They did this manual form of spin drying for every piece of clothing and bedding. Once this was done, they then strung out the garments along lines to dry in the sun. Large bedsheets were laid out carefully on the unused stone ghats. I would later realise why my clothes came back thinner, when I had them cleaned by a guesthouse laundry service. Varanasi, northern India 1990.

Out on the river was the coolest place in this stinking-hot city. The ferry zig-zagged upstream, stopping at jetties along the way. I saw interesting watercraft, including wooden houseboats, barges and water-taxis known as Longtails. They zipped around with their big truck engines stuck on the back like huge eggbeaters. Bangkok, Thailand 1992.

Candles were put along the railings around the balcony as a symbol of guidance to help the gods return from the wilderness. Fireworks went up all across the valley that night, as though all the villages were communicating with the gods above. It was a wonderful sight. The only concern was whether a descending rocket might start a fire in the grass roof of a house or barn. Chamba Valley, n-w India 1989.

We were all ordered off the bus and as soon as I stepped outside, a young officer grabbed a book I had in my hand. He waved it in the air while shouting something. I snatched it back off him saying; give me my book back. The co-driver of our bus led me away to the back of the line. He told me to be careful as these soldiers can do whatever they want and had the power to arrest anyone for no good reason. Zahaden region, southern Iran 1990.

The views from the ridge 150m above the lake were stupendous. Some of the best I have seen in all the Himalayas. I could see right along the Ganesh and Manaslu Ranges to Annapurna in the far west. To the north was Langtang and the mountains inside Tibet. I spent four hours up there sketching until it got too cold, and I had to find shelter behind the prayer-flags. The views were also fantastic looking south across the lake back up to the pass all covered in snow. Langtang region, central Nepal 1999.

Over this 14km section, the Kanchenjunga Range gradually got larger and closer. It would have been wonderful to keep walking right up to the base of it, but that would mean going into Sikkim which was off-limits to foreigners then. Also, the ridge I was on didn´t connect to the main range. Instead, it dropped down steeply into a deep valley that formed the border with Sikkim. Darjeeling region, n-e India 1990.

At a cattle market near a village, I came across lots of buffalo being traded. I had to be careful walking between them as they could get stroppy. The auctioning was done very discretely, using a blue cloth over the buyer and sellers’ hands to conceal the agreed price. Bukittinggi region, central Sumatra, Indonesia 1992.

I went for a walk along the pleasant tree-lined riverbank and had dinner in a nice little kebab restaurant with the fortunate company of a well-known Iranian comedian who happened to be preforming here tonight. He was an expert ventriloquist and demonstrated some of his bird and animal sounds to me, which made everyone in the place laugh. He told me some funny stories about himself and Iranian people. It was refreshing to see someone looking at the bright side of life, but I could tell there was a deep sadness underneath. Isfahan, central Iran 1990.

I spent the day in Gangtok and made my way up to a large Buddhist monastery, along with many others, for a special ceremony being held there today. This area once had close connections with Tibet and the Buddhist temples here were of the same order. At the entrance gate, the guards were not sure if I should be permitted in, but a young woman with her child who I was walking with persuaded them to let me in. We made our way up to the main monastery to see the head lama giving Tibetan new year speeches to the audience who were sitting on the lawn in front. I sat on the grass with the crowd of people listening and watching the ceremony, then I watched the monks in the temple go through their chanting and meditating. Gangtok, Sikkim, n-e India 1992.

It was quiet out on the river, with just the dipping of his oars as we moved slowly across the water. It was nice to be away from the crowds and out in this peaceful space. The breeze was blowing from the east and while we made our way to the fort, two larger wooden boats with big sails passed quite close to us on their way up-river with their cargo of sand and wood. It was such a timeless scene, and it felt like I was transported back thousands of years. On the banks, I could hear the washerwomen whacking the wet clothes on the stones, and the odd auto-rickshaw puttering along the road. Varanasi, northern India 1990.

The next part up to another pass was mostly in forests of flowering Rhododendrons. It was a beautiful sight, with masses of red, pink and white flowers covering the hillsides. I stopped at a teahouse just short of the pass, with its own collection of prayer flags and mani-walls. I then continued on down through more forest past a couple of small villages, before stopping at a ridge just short of the village of Junbesi. Towards Mt Everest, eastern Nepal 1992.

There were rows of wood and iron shacks with shops selling weapons of all kinds. From small rocket-launchers and bazookas to hand grenades, machine-guns, mortars, bombs of various sizes and belts and belts of bullets. Their fresh paint gleamed in the sunlight as lines of big burly turbaned, bearded and traditionally dressed Afghani men went from store to store in a state of rapture. Like children buying fireworks before Guy Fawkes night. I saw one man pick up a Kalashnikov rifle and fire it off into the air then put it back and walk off with a big grin on his face. There was a constant sound of gunfire coming from behind the stores and I could see the dust being kicked up by the bullets towards the nearby hills. Dara, western Pakistan 1990.

A train finally arrived from the direction of Palembang. It was totally full, so I had to sit on my pack most of the way to Tanjung Korang to the sounds of screaming babies and the stench of chain-smoking men. A procession of touts moved up and down the aisle yelling and selling their stuff. After moving to a doorway to avoid the constant pushing and shoving, I was kindly offered a seat by some gentlemen. They even bought me some fruit and a fan to cool myself in this hot and stuffy carriage. Lampung region, southern Sumatra, Indonesia 1992.

We chatted as we came into Siliguri, sitting on our bags while riding on top of this diesel-powered elephant. We came around a corner and had to quickly duck down to avoid being decapitated by a low railway bridge. I looked back to see if anyone got clobbered. Fortunately, they all saw it coming. Siliguri, n-e India 1990.

Around midday, I finally made it to the part of the ridge known as Kala Patthar. At 5644m the views were fantastic all around, with Mt Everest, Lotse and Nuptse to the east, and a huge glacier coming down the valley below. To the north were a range of mountains defining the Tibetan border, and more stunning peaks to the west. Looking south down the valley, I could see the two huge glaciers merge into one, then flow down the Khumbu Valley as a great river of ice and rubble. Only the higher glaciers on the mountain sides were clean and icy and Mt Everest itself was largely free of ice and appeared black against the deep blue sky with a plume of cloud coming off from its summit away to the east. The rock had orange lines of strata through it that was also seen on Nuptse and lower ridges. This was a stunning environment of ice and rock, where nothing naturally lives at this altitude. Mt Everest region, eastern Nepal 1992.

It was a magical experience to be out here in the clear air with just a few people and hearing the camels padding about and munching on vegetation nearby. It got dark and cold quickly, so we sat around a big fire for a while, enjoying the evening together, then crawled into our beds for the night. I remember looking straight up into the night sky, looking at the thick band of stars. I wondered if one of the camels might appear and lick my face while I was asleep. Jaisalmer region, n-w India 1990.

As it was dark, I took an auto-rickshaw but was soon stuck in a traffic-jam. Out of the gloom, a thin beggar-woman in filthy rags with a small child on her hip appeared. Both had ashen faces with dark circles around their eyes that made them look scarily skeletal and death-like. The woman leaned towards me with her child in one bony arm and the other outstretched towards my face. I barely heard her murmur something in a repetitive chant that only enhanced her deathly, ghost-like appearance. She was pleading for some money or food from a foreigner who just felt trapped and a little afraid. New Delhi, India 1989.

One of the peaks above called Khatung Kang had a huge head of ice on top, which glistened in the sunlight. Ice-flows came down the sides to form small glaciers. The ground here was bare and rocky, as most of the snow had been blown down the valley. While resting here sheltered from the wind, I scanned the mountainsides in the hope of spotting a snow leopard, but none could be seen. Unless one moved, it would be impossible to spot against the snow and rock, as their coats are perfectly camouflaged. Annapurna region, central Nepal 1999.

I went for regular swims in the lake below the lodge, which was very refreshing, but I hate to think what went into the water. There were some big storms late in the afternoons and evenings with heavy rain hammering on the metal roof. It was nice sitting in the dining room while watching the rain pouring off the roof. It was so loud it drowned out all other sounds. Lake Toba, northern Sumatra, Indonesia 1992.

I left the village early and climbed up towards the sacred Lake Munimahesh following a pilgrimage trail. It was a fairly straightforward trail to follow, and I did it at a steady pace starting from about 2400m and climbing up to over 4000m. The last part opened up onto a rocky area above the tree line where I found a small tarn with a pathway for pilgrims to move around it and place offerings to the gods. Behind, was the majestic bulk of Mt Kailash. One of five sacred mountains with this name in the Himalayas. It was disappointing to see so much rubbish here, including loads of underwear. Offerings to the god of fertility perhaps? Chamba Valley, n-w India 1989.

It looked very impressive from above, with the sweeping valley below and a mist and cloud-obscured Mt Ararat in the distance. It was a cold bleak day with dark clouds and squalls of rain sweeping across. The light was very dramatic, with the feeling that something biblical may happen, like a great flood with Noah´s Ark appearing in the distance and coming to rest on the top of this great volcanic peak of more than 5000m. Tenduruk Dagi region, eastern Turkey 1990.

We piled into an old Tata bus outside the airport for the trip into Leh, about 10km away. It chugged and groaned its way up the slope of the valley along a relativity new road. The barren mountains rose above us on all sides with not a tree or shrub to be seen. They were in sharp focus in this clear air, revealing detailed rock strata of different colours and angles that show the powerful forces that have created this landscape. It was hard to take all this in at first sight and I was glad to know that I was going to be here for quite a while and allow myself to be slowly immersed into this environment and culture. Leh, Ladakh, n-w India 1989.

I had great views up and down the valley, with the wide riverbed and sweeping slopes of rock-scree coming down from the mountains, along with the changing angles of the peaks as I progressed up the valley. I came across a stunning frozen waterfall, with icicles falling off that made it a bit dangerous to be under in the warming morning air. Langtang region, central Nepal 1999.

Southern, western & south-east Asian photos (Click arrow below to view all galleries).

Australia 2012 & 2013.

Australian journal extracts.

I walked up to the lookout ridge, where I did all my seven drawings for today, with mixed results. A cool wind blew from the east, making it a bit uncomfortable to draw. There were a lot a big walking and geology groups coming through, but not a real disturbance while I drew. I had fantastic views from the lookout over the broad valley, which was almost rectangular in shape and similar in size to the Wilpena Pound. It was a very unusual geological formation of ridges, with beautiful sandstone colours in the cliffs and valley floor, dotted with vegetation along ribbons of creek-beds. West Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

I drove the short distance down a dirt road to Cape Avoid and did some drawings from three locations of this wild, raw and beautiful coastline. There was a strong swell, especially off the cape and between it and the offshore island. It seemed to be coming from both directions around the island. It was difficult to draw with the strong wind. Coffin Bay, southern SA 2013.

While checking the nearby toilets, I saw an alarming poster of a battered car washed up against a tree in the creek-bed after a flood. It was a warning to anyone camping in or too close to the creek that this would happen to you, if you camped down in the creek-bed, just as I had done. It said floods were sudden, and often the water came from far away. I had no choice but to move camp to higher ground, so I packed up and only just managed to get my car back up the dodgy track up the bank of the creek. I then set up camp again. This time in a not so nice spot near the toilet block. Gammon Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

I did some drawing of the stunning coast looking north with a huge swell coming in. I then walked along the coast to a flat headland, where a long beach starts. Later, I met the caretaker, a hippy surfer who I paid $37.50 for three nights camping. He said most people end up staying for weeks and find it hard to leave. I had a fantastic red sunset over the ocean with no one else staying here tonight. Very peaceful. Cactus Beach, western SA 2013.

There was only water in the very narrow section, with steep cliffs on either side. There was no sunlight getting to this part of the gorge, but there was reflected light coming in on the north facing parts, causing rock walls inside the gorge to glow orange and red. West Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

After setting up and having lunch, I climbed up a little way onto the ridge opposite the camp for some good views of the valley across to the Heysen Range and the incredible rock strata on a 45 degree angle. The colours were also quite strong here, with dark red and yellow rocks, dark green pines, a range of other vegetation colours from olive green to slate blue, beneath a clear blue sky. I did a few sketches and noted good subjects for drawing later. Flinders Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

I spent the whole day drawing along the cliff tops, mostly just to the west of my camp. Storm clouds threatened all day, but I was lucky only to get wind and a few drops of rain occasionally. There was lightning in the morning and evening which made me a bit nervous, as there was only a few mounds of sand and bushes about the height of my tent. I would have had to retreat to my car, if a storm came over. Nullarbor NP, western SA 2013.

I spent four hours up on and near the summit, doing seven drawings and trying to capture the landscape´s vastness. The wind was very cold. Almost icy. I almost lost one drawing when a gust of wind blew it off the board and took it down the slope 15m, until it became lodged behind a burnt stick. Apart from a charcoal black line on the back, there was no real damage, and I was able to complete the pastel drawing. West Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

I walked down to a hill overlooking the sea, where I saw two whales just offshore. I did some drawing here, looking east along the coast, then walked down to the beach and walked along it to the west. I was surprised by the amount of rubbish washed up along this remote coastline. Lots of plastic tubs, containers, ropes and wood that were probably off fishing boats. I watched the whales for a while, then walked over the hills back along an old track and up the slope to my camp. I noticed camel prints near my camp, along with wombat prints on the beach earlier. Nullarbor NP, western SA 2013.

As I climbed up, more and more of the Gammon Ranges appeared, right back to the highest peak of Mt McKinlay. The views from the top of the ridge were tremendous, as it was almost as high as the peak yesterday. It was high enough to see over the ridges to the south and east, so I could see Lake Frome, which looked like its southern end was full of water. Gammon Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

I walked down the track to a couple of rocky points near Cape Freycinet, then back to the beach below the hill. I did six drawings of the wild seas crashing into the coast. I almost got hit by a big wave as I was drawing on the breach. I had to throw the drawing folder into the bushes behind me, and lift my legs as high as I could as it swept in. Cape Freycinet, s-w WA 2013.

I then walked up onto a nearby ridge to the south, from where I could see all the craters, and get a good sense of the impact that happened here about 4000 years ago. The meteor, of solid iron and nickel, came in from the south-west at a speed of 40,000km/h. It broke up into pieces before impact, creating all the craters. Erosion and tree cover made it look more like a disused quarry, but it was still impressive. Henbury Crater, southern NT 2012.

It rained for much of the way back along the creek-beds, where I saw a pair of prints of a dog along the track. Not long after, I saw a pale yellow coloured dingo coming towards me from across the riverbed, just 30m away. It saw me when I yelled out; dingo and took off at great speed down the track in the opposite direction. I imagine it hid in the bushes until I passed, then continued its journey up the gorge. Gammon Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

I spent the day walking out to the headland, finding some good spots to draw the cliffs and coast of Point D´Entrecasteaux and to the west, with interesting light on the sea. I came across a few holes (windows) in the cliffs and was lucky not to walk out over one of them. D’Entrecasteaux NP, s-w WA 2013.

I was pleased to see it actually had water in it up to about 50m of the shoreline. I stopped at a high point off the road to have lunch and do some drawings, and ended up doing two oil diptychs, one long charcoal and one large soft pastel drawing. They all worked okay, but the flies were really persistent and there were lots of them. Lake Eyre region, central SA 2012.

A large group of wild camels walked across in front of me, then proceeded to run along next to me for about 300m. There was one big male with about twelve females and juveniles, all loping along in that characteristic way camels do. It was an amazing sight as they were keeping up with me, doing a maximum speed of 30km/h on this red dirt road as the sand and corrugations were so bad. Ernest Giles Road, southern NT 2012.

I came to a lookout with magnificent views of the eroded plateaus known as the Painted Desert for their amazing range of colours. I looked across a broad plain with these remnants of a higher plateau here and there. These were made up of many coloured rocks and soils, from white to yellow, grey, red, orange, brown and purple. Painted Desert, central SA 2012.

I spent much of the day drawing the inlet, with its beautiful granite boulders covered in orange lichen. It was a clear sunny day, and I saw a pair of sea eagles circling above as I drew from the shoreline. I did three large drawings in the morning, then four middle sized ones later, mostly focusing on the flow of the water around the rocks and the light and reflections on the water. Waychinicup NP, s-w WA 2013.

I came across very interesting and beautifully weathered rock formations out along the Giles trail, similar to the images I´d seen of the Bungle Bungles. They looked like some ancient stone city, with these beehive shaped structures all clustered together. I attempted some drawings of these formations and of the vast savannah plains from the lookout. I forgot to bring paper clips, so I had to hold the paper down with my hands in the stiff, cool breeze, but I managed okay. Kings Canyon region, southern NT 2012.

I made camp at the caravan park opposite the pub. After setting up, I spent the afternoon looking around the tiny town with its old rambling pub, flight shop, a few sheds, an airstrip and a couple of houses. Later, I walked out past a farm and disused airstrip to some dunes for a view of the landscape. A flock of Galahs flew overhead as I was out in the dunes, screeching and calling as they went. The sand dunes were a deep orange colour, with a light covering of prickly bushes and spinifex. I noticed lots of footprints of animals, lizards and birds across the sand as they scurried from one bush to another. William Creek, central SA 2012.

I walked 6km along the long beach of Yokinup Bay and did two drawings of the approaching rain clouds, then sat under my umbrella waiting for the front to pass over. Even with the rain, it was a beautiful walk along this white sandy beach, with the cape to the east and the low headlands just south of the campground. Cape Arid, s-w WA 2013.

I spent today walking up the Italowie Creek Gorge and drawing at various points along the way, including at a lovely deep rock pool about 5km upstream. There were quite a few pools and flowing sections along the way to indicate recent rain. The track was also very overgrown and easy to lose, so I was often ending up in thick scrub. I saw a short-nosed echidna and a couple of large spiders with their left-over dinners on their webs. Gammon Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by the sound of dingoes howling in the distance. Then I heard another group howling a bit closer. Then, one let out a big, long howl right next to my tent, which felt spooky but I couldn´t help but laugh as it was like being in a scary film in a haunted forest. They only did it the once, which made it quite special. West Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

I found a few spots to draw various aspects of these rock formations, such as dome clusters, against the plains, lines of domes with valley vegetation and burnt areas. Some worked better than others. It was interesting to walk between the domes and see the variations of forms, like vast stone sculptures changing form as the viewer moves through and around them. The texture of the rock was interesting, with lots of large and small rounded and smooth rocks set in a concrete-like mud stone. Kata Tjuta, southern NT 2012.

I did two large drawings at the camp and tried to keep them simple and fresh, without overdoing the use of colour. They worked as colour sketches on a raw level. It was similar for two more I did up on the hill overlooking the riverbed by the camp. After lunch, I walked down the riverbed for 1km, then up a hill above the plains and the Heysen and ABC Ranges to the west. Flinders Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

Later, I had time to follow a trail through a narrow gap between two of the highest domes nearby on a separate walk, with good views looking out to the east and up the sides of these massive formations. As with Kings Canyon and Uluru, there was a sunset viewing spot by the carpark, and I had time to do a couple of drawings as the sun went down behind me. It was changing colour on the domes just as it was on Uluru yesterday evening. Kata Tjuta, southern NT 2012.

From up here, I saw a mother and baby Right Whale just below me. The baby looked so small compared to its mother. I could see lots of whales from this vantage point and along the beach. Later, I went in for a swim and just beyond the breakers were two or three 12m whales about 30m away. It was an amazing feeling to be so close to such large mammals in their environment. Fitzgerald River, s-w WA 2013.

The views from the top were tremendous, looking out across the plains in all directions with KataTjuta to the west. I could also see the Pieterman Range to the south-west. To the north, I could make out Lake Amadeus and I could see some large fires burning in the direction of Mt Connor to the east. What surprised me was how the landscape was predominantly dark green in colour and covered in savannah. It´s dry, but not desert. I did two diptych drawings here looking towards the west of the plains and Kata Tjuta. A wedge-tailed eagle circled above as I sat on one of the waves of rock near the summit. I followed the white painted lines back across the rock waves to the western end and down the ridge to the bottom. Uluru, southern NT 2012.

I had excellent views of the Heysen and ABC Ranges from the top of Red Hill and down towards St Mary Peak. I returned via the loop track back passed the high cliffs, where I saw three yellow footed rock wallabies. One was on the rocks just 20m away, while two more hopped across the riverbed and into the bushes. I was very lucky to see them, as they blend in so well with the rocks. I just happened to come by as they were looking for water in the riverbed below the cliffs late in the day. Flinders Ranges, eastern SA 2012.

I then walked around the rock in an anticlockwise direction, without stopping to draw or take photos this time. It was good to have a break from all that and just look around and take it all in. It was nice to see it all again in the opposite direction and just enjoy the walk, while seeing the rock from all angles and varying distances, from up close to about 2km away. Uluru, southern NT 2012.

It was a 9km side trip along a dirt road to a lookout across a similar landscape to the Painted Desert. I spent a couple of hours here, walking down and around the eroded plateaus and pinnacles of many different coloured sand and gibber stones. I only did a couple of small sketches from the lookout and down below, then drove back to the highway and south to Coober Pedy. The Breakaways, central SA 2012.

It turned out to be a fine warm almost windless day which I spent doing three large oil stick drawings up by the look-out again. I could hear donkeys down on the plains below and saw a pair of spinifex pigeons with the male making a courtship display, fanning its tail feathers like a peacock. East Macdonnell Ranges, southern NT 2012.

I set up the small tent, then had a look around this rather wild west, red neck looking place. There were some places that were underground that I could visit, including a church, opal museum, book shop and even a Comfort Inn. They were quite amazing spaces, cut out of a white rock that was perfect for this purpose, which reminded me of the underground city in Cappadocia, central Turkey. The Inn had three levels, with incredible rooms for guests, along with the spaces in the museum and the church. Coober Pedy, central SA 2012.

I walked up the beach and did some drawings there and up on a rock outcrop looking south-east over the beach, headland and islands. It was mostly sunny but windy, with sea eagles gliding around above. Later, I saw a yellow-bellied black snake near the camp with swallows swooping it and making a lot of noise. Cape Le Grande, s-w WA 2013.

I set up camp on a nice spot by the creek and had a wash in the bucket from the slightly salty creek water. I had a coffee and watched the sunset behind the long iron bridge. It was such a lovely peaceful place, which was what I really wanted out here on the Oodnadatta Track. It was great to get away from the noise of generators and other small-town things, like dogs and vehicles in the middle of the night. Oodnadatta Track, central SA 2012.

I stopped there and walked down, across the rail line to a salt lake and walked out onto its hard salt crust. I was surprised to see water just under the surface. It was magnificent to walk out into this immense white space. Here and there, were beautiful patterns in the salt, along with light effects caused by the sun on the salt crystals. An old wooden cartwheel and a jetty were rotting into the thick salt. Lake Hart, central SA 2012.

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